Communication apparatus and method for adaptive cooling of antenna elements

Abstract

A method in a communication apparatus that includes detecting a variation in power consumption in a plurality of antenna elements of an antenna array based on a change in a performance state of the plurality of antenna elements. The includes controlling, based on the detected variation in the power consumption, a plurality of thermoelectric devices of the communication apparatus to substantially equalize a temperature associated with the plurality of antenna elements for a substantial equalization of the performance state of the plurality of antenna elements.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method, comprising:
 in a communication apparatus:
 detecting a variation in power consumption among a plurality of antenna elements of an antenna array of the communication apparatus, wherein the detection is based on a change in a performance state of the plurality of antenna elements; 
 controlling, based on the detected variation in the power consumption, a plurality of thermoelectric devices of the communication apparatus to substantially equalize, among the plurality of antenna elements, a temperature associated with the plurality of antenna elements for a substantial equalization of the performance state of the plurality of antenna elements; 
 predicting an operational state of each antenna element of the plurality of antenna elements of the antenna array based on
 at least one of position information of at least one user equipment to be served by the antenna array, or 
 position information of the communication apparatus; and 
 
 controlling, based on the operational state, the plurality of thermoelectric devices to change cooling from each of the plurality of thermoelectric devices to the plurality of antenna elements. 
   
     
     
         2 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining the performance state of the plurality of antenna elements of the antenna array;   detecting the operational state of each antenna element of the plurality of antenna elements of the antenna array; and   executing an activation or a deactivation of each thermoelectric device of the plurality of thermoelectric devices based on the detected operational state and the determined performance state, wherein the execution of the activation or the deactivation is after a specific time has elapsed from a start of operation of the antenna array.   
     
     
         3 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising controlling, based on the substantial equalization of the temperature associated with the plurality of antenna elements, equalization of a distribution of gain across the plurality of antenna elements. 
     
     
         4 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein
 each subset of a plurality of subsets of the plurality of antenna elements corresponds to four transmitter-receiver (Tx/Rx) chips and one mixer chip, and   each thermoelectric device of the plurality of thermoelectric devices covers the four Tx/Rx chips and the one mixer chip of a respective subset of the plurality of subsets of the plurality of antenna elements.   
     
     
         5 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein
 each subset of a plurality of subsets of the plurality of antenna elements corresponds to eight to ten transmitter-receiver (Tx/Rx) chips including one or more mixer chips, and   each thermoelectric device of the plurality of thermoelectric devices covers the eight to ten transmitter-receiver (Tx/Rx) chips including the one or more mixer chips of a respective subset of the plurality of subsets of the plurality of antenna elements.   
     
     
         6 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising identifying at least one radiation surplus region and a radiation deficient region in the antenna array,
 wherein a distribution of the plurality of thermoelectric devices on the plurality of antenna elements is based on the identification of the at least one radiation surplus region and the radiation deficient region in the antenna array.   
     
     
         7 . The method according to  claim 6 , wherein a number of thermoelectric devices of the plurality of thermoelectric devices on the at least one radiation surplus region is higher than the radiation deficient region in the antenna array. 
     
     
         8 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising obtaining traffic information of a geographical area surrounding a location of the communication apparatus. 
     
     
         9 . The method according to  claim 8 , further comprising controlling, based on the traffic information of the geographical area, each thermoelectric device of the plurality of thermoelectric devices to apply an adaptive cooling on the plurality of antenna elements. 
     
     
         10 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining the performance state of the plurality of antenna elements,
 wherein the determined performance state comprises at least one of: a performance drop, a gain drop, a connectivity drop, a voice drop, or a power output drop associated with the antenna array; and 
   executing one of an activation or a deactivation of each thermoelectric device of the plurality of thermoelectric devices in real-time or near real-time based on the determined performance state,
 wherein the execution of the activation or the deactivation is after a specific time has elapsed from a start of operation of the antenna array. 
   
     
     
         11 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising obtaining the position information of the at least one user equipment to be served by the antenna array. 
     
     
         12 . The method according to  claim 11 , further comprising changing cooling from each of the plurality of thermoelectric devices to the plurality of antenna elements based on the obtained position information of the at least one user equipment. 
     
     
         13 . The method according to  claim 11 , further comprising increasing or decreasing cooling from each thermoelectric device of the plurality of thermoelectric devices to a plurality of subsets of the plurality of antenna elements based on the obtained position information of the at least one user equipment. 
     
     
         14 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising determining a state of each subset of a plurality of subsets of the plurality of antenna elements is one of an activated state or a deactivated state. 
     
     
         15 . The method according to  claim 14 , further comprising executing synchronization of activation and deactivation of each of the plurality of thermoelectric devices with the activated state or the deactivated state of the plurality of subsets of the plurality of antenna elements of the antenna array. 
     
     
         16 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the antenna array is a service side antenna array that faces a plurality of user equipment (UEs). 
     
     
         17 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the communication apparatus is one of: a 5G or 6G-enabled repeater device, a 5G or 6G-enabled small cell, or a 5G or 6G-enabled customer premise equipment (CPE).